In a thermal transfer printer in which ink is transferred from an ink ribbon onto a print medium such as labels by nipping the print medium and the ink ribbon between a thermal head and a platen roller, feeding of the print medium is controlled by driving a feeding mechanism, and feeding of the ink ribbon is controlled by driving a ribbon roll-up roller (for example, see JP 2006-334857 A).
In the thermal transfer printer discussed in JP 2006-334857 A, a plurality of slip mechanisms are provided in an ink ribbon roll-up roller. In this thermal transfer printer, a winding torque can be controlled by selectively activating a plurality of slip mechanisms to obtain a stable winding torque.